City of Mexico road crews prepare for ice and snow storm

Wednesday

Feb 20, 2013 at 1:09 PMFeb 20, 2013 at 1:11 PM

Pre-treating emergency snow routes

Kimberly Long, Ledger Staff Writer

Ledgerland has had a fair winter, but the forecast for the next 36 hours is predicting snow, sleet and freezing rain. The wintry mix is expected to taper off Thursday evening as freezing drizzle.The City of Mexico road crews started preparing for the storm Tuesday."We pre-treated all emergency snow routes and problem areas where we usually have problems. We do this to keep the ice from sticking to pavement," said Street Supervisor Kevin Barker. If the storm hits tonight, the city's fleet of six vehicles will be out clearing approximately 80 road miles early in the morning, Barker said. "Our crews will work 12-hour shifts. One from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and a crew comes in at 7 p.m. and works through the night," Barker said. He also said it would help if residents would use off-street parking, if possible. "It gives the plows enough room to get through without having to dodge parked vehicles," he said.Barker said the city has adequate amounts of salt, sand and rock chips on hand, if needed. "It appears the temperatures are going to be in our favor, so the chemical (brine mix, made in-house) should work well," he said.Barker said his team is ready whenever the weather decides to hit. "Before every storm, we have everything fueled and checked so we can be ready to go when the time comes. That's kind of our routine for every storm."The National Weather Service in St. Louis has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Ledgerland. Precipitation will overspread the area shortly after sunrise Thursday morning and will become heavy at times during the day, then taper off by evening. The precipitation will tend to be more snow early in the event, but is expected to become mixed with sleet and freezing rain during the day on Thursday before tapering off as freezing drizzle Thursday evening. Precipitation will tend to be more freezing rain south of Interstate 70 and more snow north of I-70.Snow and sleet accumulation of 3 to 5 inches are predicted in the Mexico area.Heavy snow, sleet and ice accumulations will have significant impacts on travel. In addition, ice may cause damage to trees and power lines.

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